Some Sweet Tomorrow

April 29

“Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it.” Hebrews 4:1. 2.

Not everyone who hears the Word will spend eternity in Heaven. In Matthew 13:4-7, Jesus makes this quite clear with a parable: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants.”

This indicates that there are many things that can steal away the truth of God in the lives of those who hear it. Perhaps it will be overwhelmed when a man is beset with trial regarding his employment in a troubled economy, which is contradictory to all Christ stands for (see Matthew 6:25).

Perhaps it will be swallowed up by the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life (see I John 2:16) when a man cannot let go of the things he desires to own. When his perception of himself is rooted in the possessions he accrues, he cannot relinquish them in order to embrace the eternal treasure that was claimed for him at Calvary.

When anything other than Jesus becomes paramount in a believer’s life, his life is no longer on the path toward his eternal rest, his knowledge of truth is no longer leading him to the profit that has been promised to those who are “…faithful unto death…” that they might obtain “…a crown of life,” Revelation 2:10.

What can cause an individual to reject eternal reward for mere, fleeting temporal treasure? Paul states clearly in Hebrews 4:2 that this happens when the word is not mixed with faith. He states this truth even more bluntly in Hebrews 11:6 where he says, “Without faith it is impossible to please Him, for those who come to Him must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”

Only those who “diligently seek Him” can begin to fathom the great disparity between temporal and eternal treasure. Only those who truly love Jesus can let go of all the world promises to those who serve mammon today in exchange for the hope that is within of eternal treasure on some sweet tomorrow.